Probation Area 3.C: Contingent Faculty Evaluation and Orientation

This is historical data. See the current status here.

Task: As stated in the HLC action letter, Highlands must provide evidence that the institution has ameliorated the findings of non-compliance identified in this action that resulted in the imposition of Probation, Core Component 3.C:

1. formal approval of an institutional process and policy for evaluation of visiting/adjunct faculty; and
2. a coherent plan for orientation and professional updating of visiting/adjunct faculty along with evidence of implementation of the plan;

More information was provided in the HLC Action Letter:

The University is out of compliance with Criterion Three, Core Component 3.C, “the institution has the faculty and staff needed for effective, high-quality programs and student services,” for the following reasons:

• The University has not demonstrated that its faculty provides effective, high-quality programs as required by this Core Component because formal processes for evaluation, orientation and professional development of visiting and adjunct faculty are not in place; although the institutional response indicated that such processes have been designed, they have yet to be implemented; and
• While the University in its August 2016 response provided a copy of its new handbook for visiting and adjunct faculty members, it has not yet demonstrated that this document has been accepted, and is being used, by the faculty.

Resolution: Highlands needs to accomplish things to resolve Probation Area:

1. Formally approve an institutional process and policy for evaluation of Contingent Faculty by the Faculty Senate, General Faculty, Administration, and Board of Regents.
2. Create a plan for orientation and professional updating of Contingent Faculty.
3. Implement the evaluation process.
4. Implement the orientation and professional updating process.

Background: Prior to the creation of the Faculty Association and the ratification of their Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) in 2007, all Faculty—tenured, tenure-track, contingent—were covered by the evaluation and orientation procedures in the Faculty Handbook. Once the CBA took effect, tenured and tenure-track Faculty were covered by the evaluation and orientation procedures in the CBA, and there was an increasing lack of clarity as to how contingent faculty were to be evaluated and oriented. While most of these faculty were evaluated and oriented at the department level, the NMHU Faculty Senate worked for several years, through its Faculty Affairs sub-committee, to draft a Contingent Faculty Handbook that would regularize orientation, evaluation, and other policies for these Faculty. Highlands was cited by the HLC for our lack of consistency and inability to produce evidence that all contingent faculty were being evaluated and oriented.

Overview of Status: The Contingent Faculty Handbook was complete and approved in Spring 2016 and approved by all governance groups. The first cycle of implementation for orientation and evaluation is taking place in Fall 2016, and we’ll have moved through the complete 2016-2017 cycle of orientation and evaluation by the time of the HLC’s visit, thus meaning we’ll be able to show ample evidence we have successfully resolved this probation area.

After the first cycle, we’ll need to repeat the following actions every Fall and Spring Semester: 

* = not linked, confidential information; available in the Assurance Argument.

** = not linked, online D2L module.